Floral packaging formed of oxo-biodegradable polymeric materials and methods of producing and using same

ABSTRACT

A method for forming floral packaging materials from oxo-biodegradable polymeric materials is provided. Methods of utilizing such floral packaging materials are also provided.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCESTATEMENT

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/892,860, filedMay 13, 2013, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.13/117,523, filed May 27, 2011, now abandoned; which is a continuationof U.S. Ser. No. 12/218,718, filed Jul. 17, 2008, now abandoned; whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/983,365, filed Nov. 8,2007, now abandoned. The entire contents of each of the above-referencedpatents and patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

Floral packaging materials for covering potted plants and floralgroupings have been known in the art for many years. While the prior artmethods for covering potted plants and floral groupings have been widelyaccepted, new and improved methods for providing floral packagingmaterials having improved aesthetic qualities are being sought which areless costly and more environmentally friendly. It is to such floralpackaging materials and methods for producing same that the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is directed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet of renewable/biodegradablepolymeric material constructed in accordance with the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric material of FIG.1 having a bonding material disposed along one edge thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric material of FIG.2 having a floral grouping disposed thereon.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floral grouping of FIG. 3 beingwrapped with the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 2 by one method ofwrapping.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a decorative cover for the floralgrouping formed from the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 2 whereinthe decorative cover formed from the sheet of material has a conicalconfiguration.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a decorative cover formed from the sheetof polymeric material of FIG. 2 wherein a floral grouping is wrappedwith the sheet of polymeric material by a second method of wrapping sothat the decorative cover formed from the sheet of polymeric materialhas a substantially cylindrical configuration.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a decorative cover positioned about aflower pot wherein the decorative cover is formed from the sheet ofpolymeric material of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a flower pot cover former and bandapplicator apparatus having the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 1disposed above an opening of the flower pot cover former and bandapplicator and having a flower pot disposed above the sheet of polymericmaterial.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a preformed pot cover formed from asheet of polymeric material similar to the sheet of polymeric materialof FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the preformed pot cover of FIG. 9having a flower pot disposed therein.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a male and femalemold having a sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 1 disposedtherebetween for forming the preformed pot cover of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve formed from a sheet ofpolymeric material constructed in accordance with the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s).

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 12 disposedabout a floral grouping.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve having a cinchingmember wherein the floral sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymericmaterial constructed in accordance with the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s).

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 14 disposedabout a floral grouping.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a sleeve having a detachable portion whereinthe sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymeric material constructed inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s).

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the sleeve of FIG. 16 having a flowerpot disposed therein.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a flower pot disposed in the sleeve ofFIG. 16 wherein an upper portion of the sleeve has been removed toprovide a decorative cover having a skirt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIVE CONCEPT(S)

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) in detail, it is to be understood that thepresently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is not limited inits application to the details of construction and the arrangement ofthe components or steps or methodologies set forth in the followingdescription or illustrated in the drawings. The presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) is capable of other embodiments or of beingpracticed or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purposeof description and should not be regarded as limiting.

Unless otherwise defined herein, technical terms used in connection withthe presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) shall have themeanings that are commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in theart. Further, unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shallinclude pluralities and plural terms shall include the singular.

All patents, published patent applications, and non-patent publicationsmentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill ofthose skilled in the art to which this presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) pertains. All patents, published patentapplications, and non-patent publications referenced in any portion ofthis application are herein expressly incorporated by reference in theirentirety to the same extent as if each individual patent or publicationwas specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated byreference.

All of the articles and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can bemade and executed without undue experimentation in light of the presentdisclosure. While the articles and methods of the presently disclosedand claimed inventive concept(s) have been described in terms ofparticular embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the artthat variations may be applied to the articles and/or methods and in thesteps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein withoutdeparting from the concept, spirit and scope of the presently disclosedand claimed inventive concept(s). All such similar substitutes andmodifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to bewithin the spirit, scope and concept of the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s) as defined by the appended claims.

As utilized in accordance with the present disclosure, the followingterms, unless otherwise indicated, shall be understood to have thefollowing meanings:

The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term“comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” butit is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,”and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims isused to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer toalternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, althoughthe disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternativesand “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used toindicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for thedevice, the method being employed to determine the value, or thevariation that exists among the study subjects. For example but not byway of limitation, when the term “about” is utilized, the designatedvalue may vary by plus or minus twelve percent, or eleven percent, orten percent, or nine percent, or eight percent, or seven percent, or sixpercent, or five percent, or four percent, or three percent, or twopercent, or one percent. The use of the term “at least one” will beunderstood to include one as well as any quantity more than one,including but not limited to, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100,etc. The term “at least one” may extend up to 100 or 1000 or more,depending on the term to which it is attached; in addition, thequantities of 100/1000 are not to be considered limiting, as higherlimits may also produce satisfactory results. In addition, the use ofthe term “at least one of X, Y and Z” will be understood to include Xalone, Y alone, and Z alone, as well as any combination of X, Y and Z.The use of ordinal number terminology (i.e., “first,” “second,” “third,”“fourth,” etc.) is solely for the purpose of differentiating between twoor more items and is not meant to imply any sequence or order orimportance to one item over another or any order of addition, forexample.

As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (andany form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having”(and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and anyform of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing”(and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) areinclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecitedelements or method steps.

The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to allpermutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to includeat least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is importantin a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations thatcontain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AAB, BBC,AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan willunderstand that typically there is no limit on the number of items orterms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.

As used herein, the term “substantially” means that the subsequentlydescribed event or circumstance completely occurs or that thesubsequently described event or circumstance occurs to a great extent ordegree. For example, the term “substantially” means that thesubsequently described event or circumstance occurs at least 90% of thetime, or at least 95% of the time, or at least 98% of the time.

The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is related tofloral packaging materials that are formed from a renewable and/orbiodegradable polymeric material, as well as methods of producing andusing same.

The term “renewable polymeric material” as used herein will beunderstood to refer to environmentally-friendly materials that arerenewable and/or sustainable. The terms “renewable polymeric material”and “sustainable polymeric material” are therefore used hereininterchangeably. Renewable polymeric materials are known in the art andhave been developed to replace petrochemical polymeric materials andreduce carbon emissions. Renewable polymeric materials are formed fromcrop or raw materials such as, but not limited to, wheat, potatoes,corn, farmed wood, plant-derived sugars or lipids, soy or castor oil,and the like. Examples of polymers formed from these crop or rawmaterials include, but are not limited to, starch-based polymers,polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and thelike. In addition, the term “renewable polymeric materials” utilized inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)will also be understood to include copolymers of any of the above.

Particular examples of renewable polymeric materials that may beutilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) include, but are not limited to, a starch polymersuch as MATER-BI® (Novamont, Novara, Italy); a polylactic acid, such asNatureWorks® PLA (Nature Works/Cargill, Minneapolis, Minn.); a PHA, suchas MIREL™ (Metabolix, Cambridge, Mass.); and the various materialsdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,421, issued to Brinton, Jr. on Oct. 21,1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,216, issued to Tomka on Sep. 2, 1997; U.S.Pat. No. 6,669,771, issued to Tokiwa et al. on Dec. 30, 2003; U.S. Pat.No. 6,310,171, issued to Naito et al. on Oct. 30, 2001; U.S. Pat. No.5,922,379, issued to Wang on Jul. 13, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,536,issued to Tomka on Jan. 6, 1998; the contents of each of which is herebyexpressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, theabove-referenced materials are provided for illustrative purposes only,and it is to be understood that the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) is not limited to use of such materials, butincludes any renewable polymeric materials known in the art that arecapable of functioning in accordance with the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s).

The term “biodegradable polymeric material” as used herein will beunderstood to refer to environmentally-friendly materials that aredegradable and/or compostable. Such materials may bedegradable/compostable by various living organisms or by exposure tolight and/or oxygen. Therefore, the term “biodegradable polymericmaterial,” as used herein, will be understood to include materials thatare oxo-biodegradable, photobiodegradable and microbial biodegradable.Such materials may also be referred to as “bioplastics” within the art,and therefore the term “bioplastic” may also be used interchangeablyherein with the term “biodegradable polymeric material.”

Examples of biodegradable polymeric materials that may be utilized inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)include, but are not limited to, bioplastics made with plastarchmaterial (PSM), and polylactic acid (PLA), certain aliphatic-aromaticco-polyester compounds such as succinates and adipates, and the like. Inaddition, the term “biodegradable polymeric materials” utilized inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)will also be understood to include copolymers of any of the above.

The degradation products of biodegradable polymeric materials utilizedin accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s) may be recycled or subjected to proper disposal methods, suchas but not limited to, incineration or landfill disposal. If thedegradation products are suitable for recycling, the biodegradablepolymeric material may also be described as a renewable polymericmaterial, as described in detail herein above.

In one embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative cover for aflower pot and/or floral grouping. The method includes providing atleast one sheet of renewable/biodegradable polymeric material andforming/wrapping the at least one renewable/biodegradable polymericmaterial into a decorative covering for the flower pot and/or floralgrouping.

In another embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative cover for aflower pot and/or floral grouping that includes providing a sleeveformed of renewable/biodegradable polymeric material. A floral groupingand/or flower pot is then disposed in the sleeve to provide thedecorative covering for the flower pot and/or floral grouping.

In yet another embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative coveringfor a flower pot utilizing a preformed decorative flower pot cover. Insuch method, a preformed flower pot cover formed ofrenewable/biodegradable polymeric material is provided, and the flowerpot is disposed therein to provide the decorative covering.

The renewable/biodegradable polymeric material may be selected from thegroup consisting of starch-based polymers, polylactic acid, cellulose,polyhydroxyalkanoates, and copolymers thereof. Thesheet/sleeve/preformed flower pot cover may be provided with at leastone of a color, design and decorative pattern disposed on at least aportion thereof.

Any of the sheets/sleeves/preformed flower pot covers utilized inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)may be provided with a bonding material disposed upon a portion thereofto aid in forming the sheet or in holding the sleeve/preformed flowerpot cover about the flower pot and/or floral grouping. Alternatively,the methods of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)may further include the step of securing the decorative covering aboutthe flower pot and/or floral grouping via a banding element.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, designated generally by the referencenumeral 10 is a sheet of material constructed of arenewable/biodegradable polymeric material. The sheet ofrenewable/biodegradable polymeric material 10 has an upper surface 14, alower surface 16, and an outer peripheral edge 18. The outer peripheraledge 18 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 comprises a first side 20,a second side 22, a third side 24, and a fourth side 26. A bondingmaterial 27 (FIG. 2) may be disposed on at least a portion of one orboth of the upper and lower surfaces 14 and 16, respectively, of thesheet of material 10, such as the upper surface 14 thereof as shown andas further illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,364, entitled “WRAPPING AFLORAL GROUPING WITH SHEETS HAVING ADHESIVE OR COHESIVE MATERIAL APPLIEDTHERETO,” issued to Weder on Jan. 26, 1999, the specification of whichis hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

The sheet of material 10 may be constructed of a single layer ofmaterial or a plurality of layers of the same or different types ofmaterials. The layers of material comprising the sheet of material 10may be laminated together or connected together by any method known inthe art. When the sheet of material 10 is formed of more than one layerof material, at least one layer of material is constructed of arenewable/biodegradable polymeric material; however, such layer may beconnected to another, non-renewable/non-biodegradable layer of material.

If desired, the sheet of material 10 may also be provided with at leasta portion of at least one color, design and/or decorative pattern 28disposed on at least a portion thereof. The color(s), design(s) and/orpattern(s) 28 may be disposed on the sheet of material 10 by any methodknown in the art, including but not limited to, printing, etching,embossing, texturing, flocking, coating, lacquering, application duringextrusion, and the like. The color(s), design(s) and/or pattern(s) 28may be applied separately or simultaneously or may be characterizedtotally or partially by pearlescent, translucent, transparent,iridescent, optical effect, paper-like, cloth-like, or other similarqualities, or may be a graphic image selected from the group consistingof a rendering of at least a portion of a masterpiece work of art, arendering of at least a portion of a work of art of a Great Master, arendering of at least a portion of a musical score, and combinationsthereof. Each of the above-named characteristics may occur alone or incombination and may be applied to a portion of the upper surface 14and/or a lower surface 16 of the sheet of material 10. Moreover, whenthe sheet of material 10 comprises two or more layers of material, eachof the layers of material may vary in the combination of suchcharacteristics.

In addition, when the sheet of material 10 is provided with two or moredesign(s) and/or pattern(s) 28, the design(s) and/or pattern(s) may bein register with one another or out of register with one another.Alternatively, a portion of the two or more design(s) and/or pattern(s)may be in register with one another, while another portion of the two ormore design(s) and/or pattern(s) may be out of register with oneanother.

The term “optical effect material” as used herein is to be understood tomean any material capable of changing appearance, such as perspectiveand/or color, as the angle of view of such material changes. Opticaleffect materials include, but are not limited to, iridescent materials,materials having one or more holograms and the like. Examples of floralpackaging materials having a texture or appearance simulating thetexture or appearance of cloth have previously been disclosed by theinventor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,089, issued Nov. 19, 1996; U.S. Pat. No.5,634,318, issued Jun. 3, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,720, issued Dec. 30,1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,362, issued Mar. 17, 1998; U.S. Pat. No.5,775,057, issued Jul. 7, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,061, issued Jul.13, 1999. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patentsare hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

The term “cloth-like” will be used interchangeably herein with the term“texture and/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance ofcloth.” Examples of floral packaging materials having a texture orappearance simulating the texture or appearance of cloth have previouslybeen disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,813, issued Dec.4, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,463, issued May 14, 2002; U.S. Pat. No.6,463,717, issued Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,248, issued Dec.17, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,958, issued May 20, 2003; U.S. Pat. No.6,565,963, issued May 20, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,603, issued Jun. 17,2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,372, issued Jul. 29, 2003; U.S. Pat. No.6,702,919, issued Mar. 9, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,379, issued Mar. 16,2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,464, issued Mar. 23, 2004; U.S. Pat. No.6,715,261, issued Apr. 6, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,051, issued Apr. 13,2004; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,417, issued Apr. 20, 2004. The entirecontents of each of the above-referenced patents are hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference.

The term “paper-like” will be used interchangeably herein with the term“texture and/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance ofpaper.” Examples of decorative grass having a texture or appearancesimulating the texture or appearance of paper have previously beendisclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,251, issued Apr. 2,2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,430, issued Jun. 11, 2002; U.S. Pat. No.6,403,207, issued Jun. 11, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,224, issued Jul.30, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,307, issued Feb. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No.6,613,409, issued Sep. 2, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,006, issued Jun. 29,2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,484, issued Apr. 26, 2005; and U.S. Pat. No.6,887,545, issued May 3, 2005. The entire contents of each of theabove-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

The term “masterpiece work of art” is defined herein as any product ofone of the fine arts, such as a painting or a photograph, that is widelyrecognizable by the public and can generally be said to provideaesthetic satisfaction to the viewer. The term “rendering of at least aportion of a masterpiece work of art” not only includes exactreproductions of an original work but will also include reproductionsand partial reproductions that resemble an original masterpiece work ofart, such as a forgery or an imitation, works that contain an adoptionof a general style of artistic expression that is recognizable, such asthe Impressionist style of painting, and works that include alterationsto a famous work, such as a negative image of a work, a change incoloration of a work, or the addition of a person, object or logo to awork. The term “works of the Great Masters” is to be understood to meana work of art produced by an artist generally associated with at leastone of the historical periods or movements. Examples of floral packagingmaterials produced with such graphic images disposed thereon havepreviously been disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,650,issued Jan. 28, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,457, issued Feb. 17, 2004; andU.S. Pat. No. 6,678,998, issued Jan. 20, 2004. The entire contents ofeach of the above-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporatedherein by reference.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 may be employed to provide adecorative cover for a floral grouping (FIGS. 3 through 6) or adecorative cover for a flower pot (FIG. 7); or it may be employed toform a preformed flower pot cover for covering a flower pot (FIGS. 9 and10); or it may be employed to provide a sleeve for wrapping or coveringa floral grouping (FIGS. 12 through 15) or a flower pot (FIGS. 16through 18). The use of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to form adecorative cover for a floral grouping or a flower pot, or to form asleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot, or to form a preformedflower pot cover will be described in more complete detail herein.

As noted above, the sheet of polymeric material 10 can be utilized toform a decorative cover for a floral grouping or a flower pot. The term“flower pot” as used herein refers to any type of container for holdinga floral grouping, or a plant, or even another pot-type container.Examples of flower pots and/or pot-type containers include, but are notlimited to, clay pots, wooden pots, plastic pots, pots made from naturaland/or synthetic fibers, or any combination thereof. Such flower potsand/or pot-type containers are provided with a retaining space forreceiving a floral grouping. The floral grouping may be disposed withinthe retaining space of the flower pot with a suitable growing mediumdescribed in further detail below, or other retaining medium, such as afloral foam. It will also be understood that in some cases the floralgrouping, and any appropriate growing medium or other retaining medium,may be disposed in a sleeve formed from the sheet of material 10 if thesleeve is adapted to contain a medium.

“Floral grouping” as used herein will be understood to include cut freshflowers, artificial flowers, a single flower or other fresh and/orartificial plants or other floral materials and may include othersecondary plants and/or ornamentation or artificial or natural materialswhich add to the aesthetics of the overall floral grouping. Further, thefloral grouping may comprise a growing potted plant having a rootportion as well. However, it will be appreciated that the floralgrouping may consist of only a single bloom or only foliage, or abotanical item (not shown), or a propagule. The term “floral grouping”may be used interchangeably herein with the term “floral arrangement.”The term “floral grouping” may also be used interchangeably herein withthe terms “botanical item: and/or “propagule.”

The term “growing medium” when used herein will be understood to includeany liquid, solid, or gaseous material used for plant growth or for thecultivation of propagules, including organic and inorganic materialssuch as soil, humus, perlite, vermiculite, sand, water, and includingthe nutrients, fertilizers, hormones, or any combinations thereofrequired by the plants or propagules for growth.

The term “botanical item” when used herein will be understood to includea natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plant, taken singularly orin combination. The term “botanical item” also includes any portion orportions of natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plants includingstems, leaves, flowers, blossoms, buds, blooms, cones, or roots, takensingly or in combination, or in groupings of such portions such asbouquets or floral groupings.

The term “propagule” when used herein will be understood to include anystructure capable of being propagated or acting as an agent ofreproduction including seeds, shoots, stems, runners, tubers, plants,leaves, roots, or spores.

In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is square. It will be appreciated, however, that the sheetof polymeric material 10 can be of any shape, configuration or size aslong as the sheet of polymeric material 10 is sufficiently sized andshaped to wrap and encompass at least a portion of a floral grouping ora flower pot. For example, the sheet of polymeric material 10 may have arectangular, round, oval, octagonal, or asymmetrical shape. Further,multiple sheets of the polymeric material 10 may be used in a singlecircumstance to provide a decorative cover or sleeve for a floralgrouping or a flower pot. Moreover, when multiple sheets of thepolymeric material 10 are used in combination, the sheets of polymericmaterial 10 need not be uniform in size or shape. Finally, it will beappreciated that the sheet of polymeric material 10 shown herein is asubstantially flat sheet except for any texturing, matting, embossing,flocking, application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink, or othertreatments and techniques that may be applied thereto to provide thedesign(s) and/or pattern(s) 28.

Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may beutilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s) as long as the sheet of polymeric material 10 canbe wrapped about at least a portion of a floral grouping or a flowerpot, as described herein. Generally, the sheet of polymeric material 10will have a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil,and more desirably a thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about2.5 mil.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sheet of polymeric material 10 has a width30 extending generally between the first side 20 and the second side 22,respectively, sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymeric material10 can be wrapped about and encompass at least a portion of a floralgrouping or a flower pot. The sheet of polymeric material 10 has alength 32 extending generally between the third side 24 and the fourthside 26, respectively, sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 extends over a substantial portion of the floral groupingwhen the sheet of polymeric material 10 has been wrapped about thefloral grouping in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s), as described in detail herein. The sheet ofpolymeric material 10 may also be wrapped about a flower pot tosubstantially wrap and cover the flower pot in accordance with thepresently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), as described ingreater detail herein below.

A plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 may be connected togetherto form a roll as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,976, issued to Wederet al. on Oct. 24, 1995, entitled “MATERIAL AND ADHESIVE STRIPDISPENSER,” the specification of which is hereby expressly incorporatedin its entirety herein by reference.

FIGS. 3 through 5 illustrate the use of the sheet of polymeric material10 in wrapping a floral grouping 34 to provide a decorative cover 36(FIG. 5) for the floral grouping 34, wherein the decorative cover 36 hasan open upper end 38 and a lower end 40. The sheet of polymeric material10 may optionally have the strip of bonding material 27 disposed upon atleast a portion of the upper surface 14, the lower surface 16 or both,such as the strip of bonding material 27 disposed along at least aportion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 soas to be disposed substantially adjacent the fourth side 26 thereofsubstantially as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Further, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 can be provided either as an individual sheet or from a pador roll of material.

The bonding material 27, if present, may have a backing or release strip(not shown). The backing or release strip may be left applied for aperiod of time to the bonding material 27 after it is disposed on asurface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 prior to its use as awrapping material, to protect the bonding qualities of the bondingstrip. In operation, an operator may dispose the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 on a support surface (not shown) such that the lower surface16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 is in contact with the supportsurface.

Referring more specifically to FIGS. 3 through 5, the floral grouping 34is placed upon the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material10 in a diagonal orientation. The floral grouping 34 has an upper bloomor foliage portion 42 and a lower stem portion 44. The sheet ofpolymeric material 10 is then wrapped about the floral grouping 34 bythe operator (FIGS. 4 and 5), the operator overlapping a portion of thesheet of polymeric material 10 over another portion of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10. That is, for example, the operator places thefirst side 20 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 over the floralgrouping 34, as shown in FIG. 4. The operator continues to roll thefloral grouping 34 and the sheet of polymeric material 10 in thedirection toward the second side 22 of the sheet of polymeric material10 until the upper surface 14 near second side 22 firmly engages thelower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10, wherein thefloral grouping 34 is substantially encompassed by the sheet ofpolymeric material 10, and wherein the bonding material 27 contacts thesheet of polymeric material 10 to provide the decorative cover 36 whichsubstantially encompasses and surrounds a substantial portion of thefloral grouping 34. FIG. 5 shows the floral grouping 34 wrapped in aconical fashion to provide the decorative cover 36 for the floralgrouping 34. When the floral grouping 34 is wrapped in a conicalfashion, the bloom portion 42 of the floral grouping 34 is exposed nearthe open upper end 38 of the decorative cover 36, and the stem portion44 of the floral grouping 34 is exposed near the lower end 40 of thedecorative cover 36.

In another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 6, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is utilized to wrap the floral grouping 34 in a cylindricalfashion. The floral grouping 34 is disposed upon the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 approximately parallel to the third side 24 of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10. The sheet of polymeric material 10 is wrappedgenerally about the stem portion 44 of the floral grouping 34 to aposition wherein the fourth side 26 of the sheet of polymeric material10 generally overlaps the third side 24 of the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 in a cylindrical fashion. It should be noted that the sheetof polymeric material 10 may be wrapped a plurality of times about thestem portion 44 of the floral grouping 34 before the overlapping of thethird side 24 and the fourth side 26 of the sheet of polymeric material10. As before, the portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10 nearthe third side 24 is disposed generally adjacent another portion of thesheet of polymeric material 10, and the two adjacent portions then arebrought into contact where they may be bondingly engaged, therebysecuring the sheet of polymeric material 10 generally about the floralgrouping 34 so as to provide a decorative cover 36 a for the floralgrouping 34.

In another version of the presently disclosed and claimed inventiveconcept(s), the sheet of polymeric material 10 may be used to wrap aflower pot or pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in FIG. 7 is aflower pot designated by the reference numeral 50 having an open upperend 52, a lower or bottom end 54, an outer peripheral surface 56, aninner peripheral surface 57, and an inner retaining space 58 withinwhich may be disposed a growing medium. The flower pot 50 may contain abotanical item, such as a plant 60, which has an upper portion 62comprising blooms or foliage or both.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 may be wrapped about the flower pot50 by any one of numerous methods used to wrap sheets of material aboutflower pots to form decorative pot covers for flower pots, such as adecorative cover 61 disposed about the flower pot 50 illustrated in FIG.7. The sheet of polymeric material 10 may, for example, be formed byhand about the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50 toproduce the decorative cover 61. The decorative cover 61 can then besecured about the flower pot 50, such as but not limited to, by abonding material 64. The term “bonding material” is defined in greaterdetail herein after, and will be understood to include, but is notlimited to, an adhesive or elastic band. The term “bonding material” asused herein will be understood to include “banding elements.”

In one embodiment, the open upper end 52 of the flower pot 50 remainssubstantially uncovered by the decorative cover 61 substantially asshown in FIG. 7. However, it is to be understood that the bondingmaterial 64 may be secured about the decorative cover 61 above the upperend 52 of the flower pot 50.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flower pot cover former and band applicatorapparatus 66 for forming the sheet of polymeric material 10 into thedecorative cover 61 for the flower pot 50 of FIG. 7 is illustrated. Theflower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66 comprises aband applicator 68 and a flower pot cover former 70. The flower potcover former and band applicator apparatus 66 has a support platform 72with an opening 74 formed therein. A banding element 64, such as but notlimited to an elastic band, is disposed circumferentially about theopening 74 in the support platform 72.

The term “banding element” as used herein will be understood to include,but not be limited to, strings, ribbons, elastic or non-elastic bands,elastic or non-elastic strings, elastic or non-elastic pieces ofmaterial, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a pieceof paper strip, a piece of plastic strip, a piece of wire, a tie wrap, atwist tie, or combinations thereof.

The lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 is positionedon an upper surface 76 on the support platform 72 such that the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 is positioned over the opening 74 in the supportplatform 72. The flower pot 50 is positioned above the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 and is moved in a direction 78 into the opening 74of the flower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66. As theflower pot 50 is moved into the opening 74, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is pressed about the outer peripheral surface 56 of theflower pot 50, thereby forming the decorative cover 61 about the flowerpot 50. The decorative cover 61 may then be secured about the flower pot50 by the banding element 64. The flower pot 50 having the decorativecover 61 secured thereto is then moved in a direction 80 out of theopening 74 in the support platform 72.

The banding element 64 can be applied manually or automatically such asby the method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,599, entitled “MEANS FORSECURING A DECORATIVE COVER ABOUT A FLOWER POT,” issued to Weder on Apr.21, 1993 which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Thebanding element 64 can also be applied as a tie using a method such asdescribed in “Single Station Covering and Fastening System,” U.S. Pat.No. 5,609,009, issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 11, 1997, thespecification of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference. The sheet of polymeric material 10 can also be appliedautomatically about the flower pot 50, for example, by methods shown inU.S. Pat. No. 4,733,521 entitled “COVER FORMING APPARATUS,” issued toWeder et al. on Mar. 29, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled“COVER FORMING APPARATUS HAVING A VOTING FORMING MEMBERS,” issued toWeder et al. on Mar. 8, 1994, both of which are hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference.

Instead of securing the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50 viathe banding element 64, the decorative cover 61 formed from the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 may be secured to the flower pot 50 by the use ofone or more bonding materials. For example, the upper surface 14 of thesheet of polymeric material 10 may have a bonding material such as thebonding material 27 disposed upon a portion thereof. When the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 is disposed about the flower pot 50, at least aportion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10contacts at least a portion of at least one of the outer peripheralsurface 56 and the inner peripheral surface 57 of the flower pot 50 andis thereby bonded and held about the flower pot 50 via the bondingmaterial.

The bonding material may cover a portion of the upper surface 14 of thesheet of polymeric material 10, or the bonding material may entirelycover the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. Thebonding material may be disposed on the upper surface 14 of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 in the form of a strip or in the form ofspaced-apart spots. One method for disposing a bonding material on thesheet of polymeric material 10 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637,entitled “METHOD FOR WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING,” issued to Weder, etal. on May 12, 1992, which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

The term “bonding material” when used herein refers to an adhesive,frequently a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive or anyadhesive/cohesive combination having adhesive qualities (i.e., qualitiesof adhesion or adhesion/cohesion, respectively) sufficient to cause theattachment of a portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to itself,to a floral grouping 34, or to a flower pot 50. Since the bondingmaterial may comprise either an adhesive or an adhesive/cohesivecombination, it will be appreciated that both adhesives and cohesivesare known in the art, and both are commercially available. When thebonding material is a cohesive, a similar cohesive material must beplaced on the adjacent surface for bondingly contacting and bondinglyengaging with the cohesive material. The term “bonding material” alsoincludes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, theadjacent portions of the material must be brought into contact and thenheat must be applied to effect the seal. The term “bonding material”also includes materials which are sonically sealable and vibratorysealable. The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes aheat sealing lacquer or hot melt material which may be applied to thematerial and, in this instance, heat, sound waves, or vibrations, alsomust be applied to effect the sealing.

The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes any type ofmaterial or thing which can be used to effect the bonding or connectingof the two adjacent portions of the sheet of polymeric material 10 toeffect the connection or bonding described herein. The term “bondingmaterial” may also include ties, labels, bands, ribbons, strings, tapes(including single or double-sided adhesive tapes), staples orcombinations thereof. Some of the bonding materials would secure theends of the material while other bonding materials may bind thecircumference of a cover, or a sleeve, or, alternatively and/or inaddition, the bonding materials would secure overlapping folds in thematerial and/or sleeve. Another way to secure the cover and/or sleeve isto heat seal the ends of the material to another portion of thematerial. One way to do this is to contact the ends with an iron ofsufficient heat to heat seal the material.

Alternatively, a cold seal adhesive may be utilized as the bondingmaterial. The cold seal adhesive adheres only to a similar substrate,acting similarly as a cohesive, and binds only to itself. The cold sealadhesive, since it bonds only to a similar substrate, does not cause aresidue to build up on equipment, thereby both permitting much morerapid disposition and use of such equipment to form articles andreducing labor costs. Further, since no heat is required to effect theseal, the dwell time, that is, the time for the sheet of material toform and retain the shape of an article, such as a flower pot cover orflower pot, is reduced. A cold seal adhesive binds quickly and easilywith minimal pressure, and such a seal is not readily releasable. Thischaracteristic is different from, for example, a pressure sensitiveadhesive.

The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes any heat orchemically shrinkable material, and static electrical or otherelectrical materials, chemical welding materials, magnetic materials,mechanical or barb-type fastening materials or clamps, curl-typecharacteristics of the film or materials incorporated in material whichcan cause the material to take on certain shapes, cling films, slots,grooves, shrinkable materials and bands, curl materials, springs, andany type of welding method which may weld portions of the material toitself or to the pot, or to both the material itself and the pot.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 through 11, a decorative preformed flower potcover 110 illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 is constructed from a sheet ofrenewable/biodegradable polymeric material 10. When the sheet offlexible material 10 is formed into the decorative preformed flower potcover 110, a plurality of overlapping folds 122 are formed, and at leasta portion of the overlapping folds 122 may be bondingly connected toadjacently disposed portions of the decorative preformed flower potcover 110.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the decorative preformed pot cover 110 hasan upper end 125, a lower end 126, and an outer peripheral surface 128.An opening 130 intersects the upper end 125, forming an inner peripheralsurface 132 which defines and encompasses a retaining space 133 withinwhich a flower pot 134 containing a floral grouping 136 may be disposedin a manner well-known in the art and as shown in FIG. 10.

The decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be formed using aconventional mold system 140 comprising a male mold 142 and a femalemold 144 having a mold cavity 146 for matingly receiving the male mold142 (FIG. 11). The sheet of flexible material 10 is positioned betweenthe male and female molds 142 and 144, respectively. Movement of themale mold 142 in the direction 148 and into the mold cavity 146 forcesthe sheet of flexible material 10 to be disposed about the portion ofthe male mold 142 disposed in the mold cavity 146 of the female mold 146and thereby forms the sheet of material 10 into the preformed decorativeflower pot cover 110 (FIGS. 9 and 10). Further, in accordance with thepresently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110 constructed from the materials describedherein above, may have a bonding material disposed upon a portionthereof.

Methods for forming such preformed decorative pot covers are well-knownin the art. Two methods of forming such covers are described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,773,182, entitled “ARTICLE FORMING SYSTEM,” issued to Wederet al. on Sep. 27, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled “COVERFORMING APPARATUS HAVING A VOTING FORMING MEMBERS,” issued to Weder etal. on Mar. 8, 1994, each of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference. However, other methods for forming preformed decorative potcovers known in the art are also encompassed by the presently disclosedand claimed inventive concept(s).

It is also to be understood that the decorative preformed flower potcover 110 may further be provided with a bonding material disposed on atleast a portion of at least one of the inner peripheral surface 132 andouter peripheral surface 128, as described in detail herein above, forbondingly holding the preformed flower pot cover 110 about the flowerpot 134. In yet another alternative, the preformed flower pot cover 110may be secured about the flower pot 134 utilizing a banding element, asdescribed in detail herein above.

Shown in FIG. 12 is a decorative cover designated therein by the generalreference numeral 160 which comprises a flexible bag or sleeve 162 ofunitary construction in accordance with the presently disclosed andclaimed inventive concept(s). The sleeve 162 may be used as a decorativecover 160 for a floral grouping or a flower pot. The sleeve 162initially comprises a flexible flat collapsed piece of material which isopenable in the form of a substantially tubular structure. Such sleevesare well-known in the floral industry. In accordance with the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), the sleeve 162 isconstructed of a renewable/biodegradable polymeric material, asdescribed in detail herein above. The sleeve 162 has an upper end 166, alower end 168 and the outer peripheral surface 164. The sleeve 162 maybe tapered outwardly from the lower end 168 toward a larger diameter atits upper end 166. In its flattened state the sleeve 162 generally hasan overall trapezoidal or modified trapezoidal shape, and when opened issubstantially frusto-conical to coniform. It will be appreciated,however, that the sleeve 162 may comprise variations on theaforementioned shapes or may comprise significantly altered shapes suchas square or rectangular, wherein the sleeve 162 when opened has acylindrical form, as long as the sleeve 162 functions in accordance withthe presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) in the mannerdescribed herein. The sleeve 162 (or any other sleeve disclosed herein)may have an angular or contoured shape.

The sleeve 162 has an opening 170 at the upper end 166 and may be openat the lower end 168, or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168. Thesleeve 162 also has an inner peripheral surface 172 which, when thesleeve 162 is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space174. When the lower end 168 of the sleeve 162 has a closed lower end168, a portion of the lower end 168 may be inwardly or outwardly foldedto form one or more gussets (not shown) for allowing the lower portionof the inner retaining space 174 to be expandable, for example, forreceiving the circular bottom of a pot or growing medium.

The sleeve 162 is generally frusto-conically shaped, but the sleeve 162may be, by way of example but not by way of limitation, cylindrical,frusto-conical, a combination of both frusto-conical and cylindrical, orany other shape, as long as the sleeve 162 functions as described hereinas noted above. Further, the sleeve 162 may comprise any shape, whethergeometric, non-geometric, asymmetrical and/or fanciful as long as itfunctions in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s). The sleeve 162 may also be equipped with drainholes (if having a closed bottom) or side ventilation holes (not shown),or can be made from gas permeable or impermeable materials.

The material from which the sleeve 162 is constructed is the same aspreviously described above for the sheet of polymeric material 10. Anythickness of material may be utilized in accordance with the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as long as the sleeve 162 maybe formed as described herein and as long as the formed sleeve 162 maycontain at least a portion of a flower pot or a floral grouping, asdescribed herein. Additionally, an insulating material such as bubblefilm, preferable as one of two or more layers, can be utilized in orderto provide additional protection for the item, such as a floralgrouping, contained therein.

In FIG. 13, a floral grouping 176 is disposed within the inner retainingspace 174 of the sleeve 162 to provide the decorative cover 160 for thefloral grouping 174. Generally, at least a portion of an upper or bloomportion 178 of the floral grouping 176 is exposed adjacent the opening170 of the sleeve 162 and at least a portion of a lower or stem portion180 of the floral grouping 176 is substantially adjacent the lower end168 of the sleeve 162. Either end of the sleeve 162 may be closed aboutthe floral grouping 176. In one embodiment, a portion of the sleeve 162is tightened and secured about a portion of the stem portion 180 of thefloral grouping 176 for holding the decorative cover 160 about thefloral grouping 176. For example, the sleeve 162 may be held by abanding element 182 positioned about the sleeve 162 such as is shown inFIG. 13. Other methods for binding the sleeve 162 may be employed, suchas but not limited to, the bonding methods and materials describedelsewhere herein. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a decorative cover160 a is shown which comprises a sleeve 162 a and a cinching tab 184having a bonding material 186 disposed upon at least a portion of asurface thereof. The cinching tab 184 can be used to gather portions ofthe sleeve 162 a together about the stem portion 180 of the floralgrouping 176 as shown in FIG. 15 for holding the sleeve 162 a tightlyabout the floral grouping 176 to provide the decorative cover 160 a forthe floral grouping 176.

Similarly, it may generally be desired to use the sleeve 162 as adecorative cover for a flower pot (not shown). The flower pot willgenerally contain a botanical item or plant. The flower pot can bedeposited into the open sleeve 162 in a manner well-known in the art,such as manually wherein the sleeve 162 is opened by hand and the flowerpot deposited therein.

As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on a portion of thesleeve 162 or any sleeve described herein to assist in holding thesleeve 162 to the flower pot when the flower pot is disposed within thesleeve 162 or to assist in closing the upper end 166 of the sleeve 162or adhering the sleeve 162 to the flower pot after the flower pot hasbeen disposed therein, as will be discussed in further detail below.

It will be understood that the bonding material, if present, may bedisposed as a strip or block on a portion of the inner peripheralsurface 172 and/or outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162. Thebonding material may also be disposed upon the flower pot. Further, thebonding material may be disposed as spots of bonding material, or in anyother geometric, non-geometric, asymmetric, or fanciful form, and in anypattern, including covering either the entire inner peripheral surface172 and/or the entire outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162,and/or a portion or the entirety of the flower pot. The bonding materialmay be covered by a cover or release strip which can be removed prior tothe use of the sleeve 162 or flower pot. The bonding material can beapplied by methods known to those of ordinary skill in their art. Onemethod for disposing a bonding material, in this case an adhesive, isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637, entitled “METHOD FOR WRAPPING AFLORAL GROUPING,” issued to Weder et al. on May 12, 1993, which ishereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on at least a portionof the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162 (or any othersleeve described herein), or, alternatively, the bonding material may bedisposed on the outer peripheral surface of a flower pot containedwithin the sleeve 162, while the sleeve 162 may be free of the bondingmaterial. In a further alternative, the bonding material may be disposedboth on at least a portion of the flower pot as well as upon at least aportion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162. Inaddition, a portion of the bonding material may also be disposed on theouter peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 as well. It will beunderstood that the bonding material may be disposed in a solid sectionof bonding material. The bonding material, when present, is disposed onthe sleeve 162 and/or flower pot by any method known in the art.

Certain versions of sleeves described herein may be used in combinationwith a preformed pot cover. For example, a preformed pot cover may beapplied to the pot, and then the covered pot wrapped or disposed withina sleeve. Examples of sleeves which may be used in accordance with thepresently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) are shown in thespecification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,979, entitled “SLEEVE HAVING ADETACHABLE PORTION FORMING A SKIRT AND METHODS,” issued to Weder on May6, 1997, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Equipment and devices for forming sleeves are commerciallyavailable, and well-known in the art.

Shown in FIGS. 16-18 is another embodiment of a decorative cover 160 bcomprising a sleeve constructed in accordance with the presentlydisclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) and designated by the generalreference numeral 162 b. The sleeve 162 b has a “detaching” element inpredetermined areas for detaching a portion of the sleeve 162 b. Thesleeve 162 b generally initially comprises a flexible flat collapsedpiece of material which is openable in the form of a substantiallytubular structure. The sleeve 162 b is constructed of the same materialand in the same way as described previously herein and may be describedexactly the same as the other sleeves described herein except for theadditional elements described hereinafter.

The sleeve 162 b has an upper end 166 b, a lower end 168 b, and an outerperipheral surface 164 b. The sleeve 162 b has an opening 170 b at theupper end 166 b thereof, and the sleeve 162 b may be open at the lowerend 168 b or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168 b. In a flattenedstate, the sleeve 162 b has a first side 171 and a second side 173. Thesleeve 162 b also has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which, when thesleeve 162 b is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space174 b as shown in FIG. 17. When the lower end 168 b of the sleeve 162 bhas a closed bottom, a portion of the lower end 168 b may be inwardlyfolded to form one or more gussets (not shown) for permitting a circularbottom of an object such as a potted plant 187 to be disposed in theinner retaining space 174 b of the lower end 168 b of the sleeve 162 b.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the sleeve 162 b is demarcated into anupper portion 188 and a lower portion 190. The lower portion 190 of thesleeve 162 b is generally sized to contain the flower pot 187. The upperportion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is sized to substantially surround andencompass a plant 192 contained in the flower pot 187 disposed withinthe lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b. The sleeve 162 b isdemarcated into the upper portion 188 and the lower portion 190 by adetaching element 194 for enabling the detachment of the upper portion188 of the sleeve 162 b from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b.In the Figures, the detaching element 194 is a plurality of generallylaterally-oriented or alternatingly diagonally-oriented perforationswhich extend circumferentially across the outer peripheral surface 164 bof the sleeve 162 b from the first side 171 to the second side 173.However, it is to be understood that the detaching element is notlimited by the depiction shown therein; instead, any detaching elementknown in the art, as well as any configuration of detaching elementknown in the art, that allows the decorative cover to function inaccordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)also falls within the scope of the presently disclosed and claimedinventive concept(s).

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the lower portion 190 ofthe sleeve 162 b further comprises a base portion 196 and a skirtportion 198. The base portion 196 comprises that part of the lowerportion 190 which, when the flower pot 187 is placed into the lowerportion 190, has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which issubstantially adjacent to and surrounds an outer peripheral surface 199of the flower pot 187. The skirt portion 198 comprises that part of thelower portion 190 which extends beyond an open upper end 201 of theflower pot 187 and adjacent at least a portion of the plant 192contained within the flower pot 187 and which is left to freely extendat an angle, inwardly or outwardly, from the base portion 196 when theupper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is detached from the lower portion190 of the sleeve 162 b by actuation of the detaching element 194.

In the intact sleeve 162 b, the skirt portion 198 comprises an upperperipheral edge congruent with the detaching element 194 which isconnected to a lower peripheral edge, also congruent with the detachingelement 194, of the upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b. In FIGS. 16and 17, the upper peripheral edge of the skirt portion 198 is congruentwith a series of alternatingly diagonally-oriented lines of perforationswhich together form a zigzag and comprise the detaching element 194. Theupper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b may also have an additionaldetaching element 200 indicated as a plurality of vertical perforationsfor facilitating removal of the upper portion 188 and which are disposedmore or less vertically therein extending between the detaching element194 of the sleeve 162 b.

The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is thereby separable from thelower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b by tearing the upper portion 188along both the detaching element 200 and the detaching element 194,thereby separating the upper portion 188 from the lower portion 190 ofthe sleeve 162 b. The lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b remainsdisposed as the base portion 196 about the flower pot 187 and as theskirt portion 198 about a portion of the plant 192, thereby forming adecorative cover 202 as shown in FIG. 18 which substantially surroundsand encompasses the flower pot 187 and at least a portion of the plant192 contained therein.

“Detaching element” as used herein, includes any element, or combinationof elements, or features, such as, but not by way of limitation,perforations, tear strips, zippers, and any other devices or elements ofthis nature known in the art, or any combination thereof. Therefore,while perforations are shown and described in detail herein, it will beunderstood that tear strips, zippers, or any other “detaching elements”known in the art, or any combination thereof, could be substitutedtherefor and/or used therewith.

In a general method of use of sleeve 162 b as a decorative cover for aflower pot, an operator provides a sleeve 162 b, and the flower pot 187having a plant 192 disposed in a growing medium contained within theflower pot 187. The operator then disposes the flower pot 187 having theplant 192 contained therein into the sleeve 162 b by opening the sleeve162 b at its upper end 166 b and assuring both that the opening 170 btherein is in an open condition, and that the inner peripheral surface172 b of the sleeve 162 b is somewhat expanded outward as well, as shownin FIG. 17. The operator then manually or automatically disposes theflower pot 187 into the opening 170 b in the sleeve 162 b, the flowerpot 187 being disposed generally through the upper portion 188 of thesleeve 162 b into generally the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b,the flower pot 187 remaining in the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162b, permitting the sleeve 162 b to substantially surround and tightlyencompass the flower pot 187. It will be understood that alternatively,the sleeve 162 b may be provided with an extension (not shown), and thesleeve 162 b may be disposed on rods or wickets, and the flower pot 187may be disposed in the sleeve 162 b either before or after the sleeve162 b has been removed from the wickets.

Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the variouscomponents, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps orthe sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the inventive concept(s) as defined in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing a decorative covering fora floral grouping and/or a flower pot, the method comprising the stepof: disposing a decorative covering about at least a portion of a floralgrouping and/or a flower pot, wherein at least a portion of thedecorative covering is an oxo-biodegradable polymeric material.
 2. Amethod for providing a decorative covering for a floral grouping, themethod comprising the step of: disposing a decorative covering about atleast a portion of a floral grouping, wherein at least a portion of thedecorative covering is an oxo-biodegradable polymeric material.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the floral grouping has at least one of abloom portion and a stem portion.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising the step of securing the decorative covering about the floralgrouping.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the decorative coveringcomprises a sheet of material.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thesheet of material is further characterized as having a bonding materialdisposed on at least a portion of at least one surface thereof forbondingly holding the decorative covering about the floral grouping. 7.The method of claim 2, wherein the decorative covering comprises asleeve having an upper end, a lower end, an outer peripheral surface, aninner peripheral surface, and an inner retaining space, and wherein atleast a portion of the floral grouping is disposed in at least a portionof the inner retaining space of the sleeve.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the sleeve is further characterized as having a bonding materialdisposed on at least a portion of at least one surface thereof forbondingly holding the decorative covering about the floral grouping. 9.The method of claim 7, wherein the lower end of the sleeve is open. 10.The method of claim 2, wherein the decorative covering is provided withat least one of a color, a design, a portion of a design, a decorativepattern, and a portion of a decorative pattern disposed on at least aportion thereof.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of:(a) the color, design, and/or decorative pattern or portion thereof isprovided by at least one of printing, etching, embossing, texturing,flocking, coating, and lacquering; (b) wherein the color(s), design(s),and/or decorative pattern(s) simulate the texture and/or appearance ofcloth; and (c) wherein the color(s), design(s), and/or decorativepattern(s) simulate the texture and/or appearance of paper.
 12. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the decorative covering is further defined asbeing formed from a laminated material, and wherein at least a portionof at least one layer of the laminated material is an oxo-biodegradablepolymer material.
 13. The method of claim 2, wherein at least a portionof the decorative covering is oxo-biodegradable and at least a portionof the decorative covering is biodegradable.
 14. A method for providinga decorative covering for a flower pot, the method comprising the stepof: disposing a decorative covering about at least a portion of a flowerpot, wherein at least a portion of the decorative covering is formed ofan oxo-biodegradable polymeric material.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising the step of securing the decorative covering aboutthe flower pot.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the decorativecovering comprises a sheet of material, and wherein a lower end of theflower pot is disposed on an upper surface of the sheet of material, andthe sheet of material is formed about at least a portion of an outerperipheral surface of the flower pot to provide the decorative covering.17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sheet of material is furthercharacterized as having a bonding material disposed on at least aportion of at least one surface thereof for bondingly holding thedecorative covering about the flower pot.
 18. The method of claim 14,wherein the decorative covering comprises a preformed flower pot coverhaving an open upper end, a closed lower end, an inner peripheralsurface, an outer peripheral surface, and an inner retaining space, andwherein at least a portion of the flower pot is disposed into at least aportion of an inner retaining space of the preformed flower pot cover.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the preformed flower pot cover isfurther characterized as having a bonding material disposed on at leasta portion of at least one surface thereof for bondingly holding thepreformed flower pot cover about the flower pot.
 20. The method of claim14, wherein the decorative covering comprises a sleeve having an upperend, a lower end, an outer peripheral surface, an inner peripheralsurface, and an inner retaining space, and wherein at least a portion ofthe flower pot is disposed into at least a portion of the innerretaining space of the sleeve.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein thelower end of the sleeve is open.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein thesleeve is further defined as comprising a lower portion and an upperportion detachable therefrom.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein thesleeve is further characterized as having a bonding material disposed onat least a portion of at least one surface thereof for bondingly holdingthe decorative covering about the flower pot.
 24. The method of claim14, wherein the decorative covering is provided with at least one of acolor, a design, a portion of a design, a decorative pattern, and aportion of a decorative pattern disposed on at least a portion thereof.25. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of: (a) the color,design, and/or decorative pattern or portion thereof is provided by atleast one of printing, etching, embossing, texturing, flocking, coating,and lacquering; (b) wherein the color(s), design(s), and/or decorativepattern(s) simulate the texture and/or appearance of cloth; and (c)wherein the color(s), design(s), and/or decorative pattern(s) simulatethe texture and/or appearance of paper.
 26. The method of claim 14,wherein the decorative covering is further defined as being formed froma laminated material, and wherein at least a portion of at least onelayer of the laminated material is an oxo-biodegradable polymermaterial.
 27. The method of claim 14, wherein at least a portion of thedecorative covering is oxo-biodegradable and at least a portion of thedecorative covering is biodegradable.